Arsenal were two nil down with goals coming from Louis Saha and Emmanuel Adebayor from the penalty spot.But it was short lived as Bacary Sagna and Robin van Persie levelled the game just before half-time.

After the restart Tomas Rosicky put Arsenal ahead and a magical Walcott put the icing on the cake to round off a wonderful North london derby to make it 5-2.

Walcott said:

“Coming off looking at the result felt unreal. It shows how well we played. We took all of our chances. In previous weeks we haven’t managed to do that.

“It was a game everyone wanted to play in. We just wanted to get out there for the second half. We didn’t want either half to end to be honest.”

Walcott admitted his first-half showing was poor but insisted he showed the guts to see the job through after the break.

He declared: “You always have to get on with the game when things are not going too well.

“I can hold my hands up and say I didn’t have the greatest of first halves. But it just shows the character, not just from me but the team.

“If you work hard, hopefully good things will come to you. And it happened for me.”

The gunners now move into fourth spot above Chelsea and Wenger even has his sights set on catching Tottenham who are 7 points clear of Arsenal.

“What does Arsenal mean? It means class.” Those were the words of Charlie Nicholas ahead of this, a celebration of 125 years of football at the North London club. It is testament to Robin Van Persie then that a crowd who have witnessed Henry and Bergkamp leave mouths agape in years gone by, will have seen few strikes classier than today’s decider at The Emirates.

The control, the power, the ease with which the imperial Dutchman guided home his 70th minute volley was not what most impressed about the goal. That Van Persie had been largely absent in an end to end affair before breaking Blue hearts by striding from anonymity to snatch all three points, shows the Arsenal marksman as more than just that, he is a predator, and one who now looks ready to take his place among the pre-match precession of Henry, Wright and Nicholas himself.

For Everton, the journey will be one as taxing to their legs as it is their morale. David Moyes’ men held out stoically before brilliance denied them. Riding their luck in the first half, they rebuffed the advances of Gervinho, a one time target made unattainable by money, or a lack of. They even managed to curtail Theo Walcott who was a game runner for the scythe passing of former Toffee Mikel Arteta.

Defending has not been Moyes’ problem though, had that cost him the points, it might have been easier to take. Instead the travelling Evertonians watched along with their manager as another ninety minute exposure of their toothless attack painfully played out.

Louis Saha recovered from a thigh strain to be available for the trip, but his minimal impact was clear in one stat: Everton couldn’t muster a single shot on target at The Emirates. More worryingly, it is the second successive game this has happened, a fresh approach in attack is becoming a matter of desperation more than desire. The show of sublime striking at one end was cruel on the goal starved.

It also spared Arsenal from the nil all draw which could have given home fans, longer in tooth, mind of times less fast inside the Highbury library, before a French revolution took hold. The Gunners squandered good chances in the first half, Gervinho and Aaron Ramsey inexplicably neglecting to sort out an easy tap in between them, before the Ivorian slammed a one on one shot straight at Tim Howard.

After Ramsey found room in the box, minutes before the break, to craft a lob over Howard which dropped agonisingly onto the roof of the net Arsene Wenger might have felt it one of those days. His readying of Rosicky and Arshavin on the hour confirmed those fears but, on a day which was all about history in north London, a flying Dutchman proved the future, as well as the past, is orange. The subs sat down and zipped their jackets back up, the victory, and Everton’s fate, was sealed. Original article here

A great game by both sides and it was the brilliance of Arsenal’s Dutch superstar that broke the deadlock in the 70th minute.It was a truly beautiful strike from an awesome pass and Arsenal deserved the win at the Emirates. The Robin Van Persie volley will go down in history for sure!

Petr Czech seemed to have a nightmare with the Gunners as Arsenal beat Chelsea 3-5 at Stamford Bridge.And it was Robin Van Persie who smashed a stunning hat-trick to knock out the blues stone cold.

Van Persie cancelled out Frankie Lampard’s opener before John Terry gave the blues a half-time lead.

But after the break Arsenal were raring to go with Andre Santos levelling the game and then Theo Walcott firing them ahead.

Ex Valencia star Juan Mata held them back with a fantastic long-range effort before Robin Van Persie struck twice in the last five minutes to secure a much needed victory for the Gunners.

It handed Arsenal their first Premier League away win since April and left the home side trailing behind league leaders Manchester City who play Wolves today.

This win spelled misery for the Blues, who have been under siege in the past week.

They have suffered a humiliating defeat at QPR, three red cards, the Terry racism storm, two FA fines and a fan revolt over their stadium plans to boot. Manchester United have also won their game at Everton with a strike by Mexican hotshot Javier Hernández on 19 minutes. This comes as a confidence boost for United after their 6-1 drubbing by noisy neighbours Manchester City.

The injury was confirmed by the French Football Federation and the 28-year-old will be out of action until the new year.

The French Football Federation statement read: “The doctor of the France team, Fabrice Bryand, was informed by Arsenal of a fracture to the right fibula of Bacary Sagna.

“The player (Baccary Sagna) was hurt during the match lost 2-1 by his club against Tottenham on Sunday. The defender will be operated on and is not expected to be available for at least three months.”

This is a great misfortune for the Arsenal and England star who underwent ankle surgery yesterday in London.

Wilshere has yet to play a competitive match this season and the Gunners’ official website said he would be out for 4-5 months.

But the midfielder was told he would be six months before being able to play again, which means a return to football in April at the earliest.

And just a small hiccup in his progress would mean that he wouldn’t be able to participate until the last few weeks of the current season.

Wilshere, 19, said: “I had my surgery and everything went well my ankle is a little sore, but I’m already looking forward to working hard to get in shape and play again ..

“I would also just like to say thanks for the many messages of support I have received from you — the fantastic Arsenal supporters. See you all soon at the Emirates.”

Wilshere, who has suffered the problem for two years, broke down with the problem at the Emirates Cup pre-season match.

After wearing a protective boot, there was no improvement and he was told Friday that he would need surgery – but could be back for Christmas.

Theo Walcott also crocked with a knee problem, is certain to miss tomorrow’s Champions League match against the Greek side Olympiakos.

And the striker, who suffered the problem during the 3-0 win against Bolton, is listed as 50-50 for Sunday’s derby against Spurs, north London.

Olympiakos coach Ernesto Valverde is confident that the Gunners are still a major force in Europe.

He said: “Arsenal is one of the best in Europe and are the favorites at the top of our group.”

Arsenal Wenger is under immense pressure after his side suffered three defeats in five games of their opening Premier League.

But England wing Walcott acknowledges he and his teammates must be made to run the club’s disastrous results.

Walcott said: “The boss is a great man, he can handle anything thrown at him.

“It was the club for over 15 years, and it is not under any pressure whatsoever.

“We players, we need to look at and start doing it on the ground, to be honest.

“Many people would say a matter of defense, but it is not just a back four, you must try to defend the whole team.

“We were not able to do so we need to ensure that we are against Bolton last weekend.

“It will be a difficult game. They come from a good result in the middle of the week.

“We have our fans at home as well. We have some home games and is important for us to have our support at home.

“The head can deal with something.”

Arsenal will be playing from the back of the disappointing 4-3 defeat of Blackburn last weekend.

But despite claiming four points from five games, Walcott believes the Gunners will soon turn the page and go on a winning run.

Speaking to Absolute Radio, he added: “We score goals, we managed to score three goals away from home and still lost, which was disappointing ..

“But we just forget it. We just spent.

“It’s important for us not to dwell on these results, we have had.

“We just have to try to win just take match after match. Maybe we think too far this time.

“As soon as we begin to have a good run, hopefully you will see Arsenal to return true.

“Manchester United had a poor start last season, not as bad as us, but may recover in this way have nothing to fear.”

The Gunners looked in firm control after a first half that saw Gervinho and Mikel Arteta open their accounts for the club, even taking into account a debut goal from Yakubu as he took advantage of some characteristically slack defending from the visitors.
In a quite remarkable second-half at Ewood Park, though, Arsenal imploded in a fashion that is becoming all too familiar for the North London club and the under-pressure Wenger. Yakubu claimed a second, albeit from an offside position, and Alex Song and Laurent Koscielny both scored own goals as Wenger witnessed the disintegration of his defence.

Substitute Marouane Chamakh headed home for his first Premier League goal since November, but Blackburn held on for only their sixth win in 26 games under Kean, in the process condemning Arsenal to defeat and drawing level with the Gunners on four points from five games. However, Blackburn are ahead on goal difference.

Blackburn had lost nine times at home to Arsenal in the Premier League era – more than any other club – and struggled throughout a first half in which they afforded the visitors far too much space down the right wing and also saw the midfield trio of Aaron Ramsey, Song and Arteta dominate in the centre of the park.

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Arsenal may have seen their own title ambitions extinguished following a run of draws, but at least gave their frustrated fans renewed hope next season might just be different.

Arsenal played much better than United with the leaders leaving it very late to mount any type of counter attack. Berbatov came on late as Manchester United tried to pinch a last minute goal. It could have happened but it didn’t.

A disappointed Sir Alex said after the game “In fairness, I thought it was going to be a draw but they got a goal from their only shot on target so it was disappointing.”

Arsenal have played a game less than most of their rivals following the Champions League qualifying round against Celtic and also faced away games at Everton, Manchester United, Manchester City and Fulham in their opening six matches.

“We are in a strong position, despite the fact we have lost two games,” said Wenger. “If you look at the away games we had, it was at places where other teams can drop points – Manchester, Everton and Fulham. We should have won the two games in Manchester but that made our resolve even stronger.

source: Telegraph